school days

Well, it's that time of year again- SCHOOL!!!! Hannah is starting kindergarten this year and had 2 half days last week and will go all week this week. Zach is in the second grade (that just doesn't seem possible!) and absolutely LOVES school. The first day, he was up at 5am and coming into our room every 20 minutes to see what time it was. At 6, he ran downstairs, got breakfast, got his backpack all together, sharpened a pencil (to be ready as soon as he got to school) and was ready to go by 6:10am. The rest of the week went similarly- with the early bird getting ready to go to school!
Elizabeth and Abby and I will be hanging out at the house next week and I think she's looking forward to it. She is so funny. My grandma gave the girls a bunch of her old jewelry and they had so much fun getting dressed up and playing- as you can see E was having a blast.
Abby is doing swell. Last night Brian and I took her to a wedding in Lexington and she did great! She even slept through the whole night. What a difference a whole night of sleep makes. Brian's mom was in town last week and stayed with the other kiddos so we could go. THANKS BARB! JT and his mom were so grateful that we made the trip and we were really glad that we were able to see JT get married. It was a beautiful night!
Zach has started flag football (I'll take pics this week at practice) and Hannah starts dance and gymnastics in the next week, so things outta get busy! I'll post more pics later this week.

One week down....how many more to go?!

As soon as I find the camera, I'll post some pics of the baby and the kids. It's been a good week all things considered! The kids have been great this week. We've been blessed by great people stepping up and taking them on so that I could just sleep and take care of me and Abby. THANK YOU SO MUCH SUSAN, JANET, VAL, KAREN and NIKKI!!! Brian and I would not have survived this week without you!
Speaking of Brian, I'm going to brag on my husband for a sec to say that he has been GREAT this week. Not only did he survive labor and delivery with me and no medication, he's gotten the kids up and fed and where ever they have needed to be be each day. He's come home at lunch to get them, feed them (and me some days) and then took care of all of us after work. I don't think he realizes how much of a gift that has been for me.
Zach and Hannah start school on Tuesday. In the midst of the summer, it seemed to be going on forever and ever and now that the kids are starting back I am finding myself wondering where in the world the summer went! They went to the building where they will be for the next 2 years while their current school building is being torn down and rebuilt. They ran into friends and Zach is all excited to be going back, Hannah is a bit apprehensive and shy, but I think once she gets back into the swing of things, she'll be good to go. At least, that's what I'm telling myself!

She's here!

Saturday night, Abigail Renee joined the Kershner family in true form! We got to the hospital at 7pm and she was born at 10:11pm. Our doctor was stuck in Chicago and the doctor covering didn't get there quite quick enough, so the nurses ran and got the resident who literally walked into the room and delivered one of his first babies. She already has a flare for the dramatic! I'll give her that.

Abby weighed in at 7 lb. 15 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. We are home and doing well. The kids are besides themselves. Zach is great and has been doing a good job of trying to maintain the stability of girls and is holding Abby and being a quiet presence. Hannah is just Hannah. She is very excited and I think is still trying to figure all this out. She is intrigued by absolutely everything that Abby does. Then there is Elizabeth. I wish I would have thought to videotape her reaction to coming home. She was running around saying "I love baby!" and "Baby Abby home!". Then she was literally jumping up and down yelling "I'm so happy! I'm so happy!" It was precious.

It has been an interesting and introspective last few months for all of us. Now that all is said and done, I can saw that I have not only experienced God's people prayers (THANK YOU TO ALL WHO WERE PRAYING AGAINST KIDNEY STONES!!) but I've also experienced how God can truly change calloused hearts (thanks again to all those who have been praying for that!). This isn't the road I wanted to go on, but now that we've been on it for a while, I cannot imagine being on any other.

Still waiting

It's been a quiet week this week. We're in the final countdowns of baby Kershner's arrival and we are trying to hold out until the doc gets back from vacation (today). So, Saturday or is fair game we'll keep you posted!

The kiddos are all doing swell. I think that they are getting the end of the summer blahs and are getting into school mode. We've got Zach's school supplies all ready to go and we'll get Hannah's list in the next few days. Fun... I think I'll let Brian take Hannah shopping for all that stuff. I took her (and my mom) out last night for some new shoes- one hour and 15 trying-ons later, we got back with 5 pairs of shoes (thank you grandma)- one of which is not my favorite and well, to be honest, I never thought that I'd allow my kids to walk out of the house with- they look like 2 disco balls attached to her feet. But, they are her fancy sparkling shoes- so what can you do? Now that I've found the camera (it was playing hide and go seek for a few days) I'll post pics of the shoes and of the rooms.

The Waiting Game Begins

Well, it's been another hot week here. We've been taking it easy. Hannah has been at zoo camp this week after being at gymnastics camp last week. She's enjoying it and I'm enjoying the beginning of the proverbial calm before the storm.

We're shoring up the house now. Last Sunday, we did a bunch of yard work and are almost done with mulching. Why is that a bag seems to cover only half of what it seems it should? ANYWAY, I planted some hosta today and there are some other flowers for Brian to plant tonight since he's done with Capstone paper (thank God). The garage is almost all painted and actually matches the house now (BIG improvement!). This weekend has a lot of cleaning in its future I suspect.

We went to the kids school this week to figure out where they will going when they get inside (their old school building is being torn down and a new one will be built, so we're in a 'swing space' for 2 years). It's really nice, but I need to say that if I were teaching there, I'd probably have walked in and then turned around and walked right back out. Zach's teacher had at least 1/2 of the room floor to ceiling boxes. Hannah's teacher wasn't in a much better position. It seems way overwhelming and I'm glad it's not me!

Me too, aka Elizabeth is doing well and is well on her way to being just like Zach and Hannah. Whatever they are doing, she has to do too. The other day I asked her who gave her permission to be so cute and she looked at me and said "God". It will be interesting to see how she does when Zach and Hannah are gone off to school all day. I think she's going to really miss them. Truth be told, I'm going to miss them.

As far as baby watch, my doc is out of the country until the 9th, so please pray that nothing happens until then. The doc that is covering for him doesn't deliver at the hospital that I want to go to and my experience at the hospital he does deliver at wasn't great. So, we'll see. Until then, the waiting game begins!

What was I thinking?

So, I thought it would be fun to go camping. What?! I'm only 37 weeks pregnant... Well, it was quite an adventure.
First, it was like 90+ degrees with humidity added on just for me. I felt like a peep in a microwave (let the swelling begin). After taking an hour to get the tent up and everything ready (it all takes longer when kids are young- should have thought that through a bit more) we were ready for the day. We spent the afternoon at the water park and then went back to camp where it took us another hour to get the fire going and cook hotdogs (a microwave would have been good).
After that we spent some time with the Cub Scouts we were with. If only my camera was working for this next part. The girls and Zach went creeking with Brian and the other Cub Scouts. Zach jumped in, Hannah followed and Elizabeth (aka- ME TOO!!) jumped right in to her waist! They had a blast. My daughter- Hannah- CAUGHT A FROG!!!!! I wish I could have been there to see that, but the climb down was comparable to jumping off a cliff, so I made a S'More instead.
I took the E home and slept in the AC and went back Sunday morning at 6:45 to get breakfast underway and break camp. Goodness. By 10am, we were ready for a quick hike. The kids found vines hanging all over the place behind our site and so the pics are of the kiddos swinging their little hearts out- even little E. There was also a log bridge that we all crossed. I wasn't aware that being pregnant throws your balance off so much. I almost didn't make it across. It was one of those things where I thought afterwards...'hmmm.. that may not have been the best ideas I've had...'
After that we made it back home in one piece and the kids slept really well and so did mom and dad. I'm not sure who was more tired- them or us. Definitely could have used a beer after that one!

no love for the mom

Well, I thought that maybe since I finally found that cord that connects the computer to the camera to allow you to upload your pics, maybe I should post a few. The first bunch are from our adventures blueberry picking and the others are from our recent trip up north to Cleveland.
The girls really enjoyed the pool and Elizabeth especially enjoyed the slide. Allison was such a dear and went down the slide with her about 100 times. Zach was all about the big zoom flume slides and was pretty much on them nonstop for 2 hours. The other photo is at Lake Erie shore in Rocky River. There is a great park and it was beautiful to spend some time there and with the Mackay and Kershner family up in Cleveland.

Today, I dropped Zach off at an overnight camping thing through our church. We spent the morning at Ft. Ancient (which is a state park full of American Indian stuff and earth mounds). It was really fun. There was a team doing a dig at a site near one of the mounds. It was really interesting to watch them work and to go through the museum and they also have a great kids room full of stuff that the kids could touch and play with and try. They also have a model of a Hopewell Indian hut that the kids really liked.

So anyway, I digress... I dropped Zach off, took him to his room and asked if he needed help getting his sleeping bag out or anything. He looked at me and said nope- are you going to leave now? I said "well, I guess I can". He said "okay. that would be good. love you. bye." No hug, no nothing. Boys.

Time Tickin' Away!

I can hardly believe that it is possible that we've got less than 30 days before the baby comes and the three ring circus becomes four. I've been in Cleveland with the kids for the past few days visiting friends and family and when I get back; I'll post the pics of the rooms and of our trip to Cleveland.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Saturday was a busy day for the Kershner family. We went blueberry picking (along with a quarter of the city I think) in the morning and then a friend of ours, Nayt got married that night. Zach was in the wedding and as you can see it was a theme wedding. I've got more pics that as soon as I download onto the laptop, I'll post. (btw- Donn Brooks, Nayt's dad took this pic).

Zach was so excited about being barefoot and about the guys in the wedding thinking that he too needed a REAL sword, so he's got a nice, sharp sword swinging by his side. He was so excited. It was the first thing he wanted to show me when I got there with dinner for him. Yes, the sword was sharp, very sharp and apparently none in the wedding party has kids- or little boys for that matter. Who gives a 7 year old a sharp sword? In all respect for my kid, he did show a great deal of self restraint and while he pulled it out a few more times than were necessary, no animals were harmed. So, that was good.

Rounding Third and Heading Home

Wow. It seems to have been a whirlwind of a weekend. Brian's dad came down for a visit and the kids were SO EXCITED to spend time with him. Friday, I finished painting the girls room and we did a quick shopping trip for curtains, rugs and other things for the rooms. We've been busy! The rooms are almost done- a few things to hang on the walls and a few places to touch up and cosmetically, they are finished. Now, I still have the closet to attack and maternity clothing to send to the wonderful people who lent them to me! There also seems to be a large amount of toys that the kiddos don't play with that I'm trying to figure out how to get out of the house without permanently damaging my kids' psyche.

Saturday, Brian surprised his dad and Zach by taking them down to Great American Ballpark for a Season Ticketholder's Special. They got breakfast and Brian's dad got to take 5 pitches ON THE FIELD and was up on the jumbo screen. Dan's dad played ball in Philly back in the day and it was really meaningful to Dan. Brian got to do batting practice inside and Zach got to throw some pitches and do some other fun stuff. They had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the morning together. Brian forgot the camera and so we need to wait for Dan to send them to Brian this week.

The BMV has been an interesting experience. We are still trying to get the title work straightened out and all the proper paper work signed and notarized in order to get the plates and have the car be ours.

So, all in all, it seems like we've got a lot that isn't complete, but is close. We're rounding third and heading home. Being a task oriented person, this would drive me insane and I'd not have any peace and would be so uptight that I wouldn't be able to relax, but I've been surprised how much I've been able to give up and just take a deep breath in and just allow it to get done when it gets done- even if it isn't in my timing. Funny how God teaches us lessons and then shows us how we've grown (or haven't).